Captain Sam's
The weather was very nice today! It was nice and cool with a slight breeze to start off the morning. As the day went on, the wind picked up forcing us to close the nets at 10:00; after only three hours. A few of the net we had to close sooner as they are more affected by the wind. The lunar phase is also something interesting to note. This month's full moon is known as the Hunter's Supermoon which will occur on Sunday. The Hunter's moon is the first full moon after the Harvest moon which is the full moon closest to the Autumn equinox. The Hunter's moon rises just as the sun is setting; providing more light and aiding hunters (hence the name), and sets as the sun is rising. What is unique about this month is that it is occurring when the moon is at it's closest approach to Earth in its orbit. All of this combined has a profound effect on the tides which will flood out the lower lying marsh areas of the site. As for the birds...we banded 28 new birds and had 13 recaptures, giving us a total of 41 birds of 13 different species (we beat Little Bear!). As we were closing the nets we had a swarm of hundred or so swallows fly overhead. This pales in comparison to the thousands to tens of thousands that will be flying overhead a little later in the season. It was still nice to see. Hopefully the wind will behave tomorrow!
- Michael R
- Michael R
There was a dramatic drop off of birds at little bear today compared to yesterdays numbers, with only 22 new birds and 14 recaptures caught. We were forced to close our nets early due to high winds. One bird of note banded today was a Swamp Sparrow which is a first of the season for the Little Bear station. This medium sized sparrow can be found in various marshland habits and fields throughout the winter in South Carolina. Sometimes in search of food, Swamp Sparrows will wade and submerge their heads in shallow water in search of invertebrates. Our station also saw the return of two Gray Catbirds that were originally banded last year at Little Bear, one on 10/13/15 and 10/15/15.
-Ryan
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
White-eyed Vireo
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
Carolina Chickadee
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
House Wren
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Marsh Wren
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
20
|
9
|
17
|
4
|
Brown Thrasher
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Northern Mockingbird
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
1
|
-
|
3
|
1
|
American Redstart
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Prairie Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Swamp Sparrow
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
2
|
Indigo Bunting
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Painted Bunting
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
4
|
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
28
|
22
|
50
|
| # of Recaptures |
13
|
14
|
27
|
| # of Species |
13
|
8
|
16
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
72.5
|
33.5
|
106.0
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
56.6
|
107.5
|
72.6
|
| # of Nets |
26
|
12
|
38
|
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Blaine Carnes (LB)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Alison Nevins ()
Col Lauzau ()
Michael Gamble (CS)
Michael Rodgers (CS)
Ryan Donnelly (LB)
